The USS Essex is the last vessel, military or commercial, that was built by the master shipbuilder Donald McKay. The clipper ships built by McKay were renown worldwide for their speed, and their record-setting voyages were seen as national triumphs. Essex belonged to the last class (Adams) of wooden hull sail and auxiliary steam engine warships ordered by the Navy and the wreck is the only fragment of a Donald McKay-built vessel known to exist. Maritime Heritage Minnesota (MHM) has been conducting assessments of this National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) wreck site since 2007. The amount of nautical archaeological and maritime historical information already accumulated about the site is significant, but continual monitoring of the wreck is necessary due to on-going damage that is being incurred. In September 2011, MHM spent a day taking photographs and video, and recording noticeable damage to the wreck. With this data, MHM made comparisons to older photographs of wreck sections and noted significant damage to certain areas. MHM presented the results of this assessment at the Gales of November Conference in Duluth on 4 November 2011. This report is copyrighted to Ann Merriman, Christopher Olson, and Maritime Heritage Minnesota. It can be downloaded free of charge but it cannot be sold for profit by a third party, uploaded to another site, or changed in any way.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews